Safety belt and buckle construction



Oct. 4, 1966 A. F. SPRANGER 3,276,085

I SAFETY BELT AND BUCKLE CONSTRUCTION Filed June 1, 1964 lNVENTOR ALFREDF. SPRANGER ym m m A 7' TORNEVS 3,276,085 Patented Oct. 4, 1966 StatesPatent Ofi ice 3,276,085 SAFETY BELT AND BUCKLE CONSTRUCTION Alfred F.Spranger, P.0. Box 191, East Detroit, Mich.

I, .Filed June 1, 1964, Ser. No. 371,387

, Claim. (Cl. 24-171) This invention relates to a belt and bucklecombination and moreparticularly to that type of belt which is used forsafetypurposes such as for a seat belt.

Reference is made to my co-pending application Serial No. 365,593, filedMay 7, 1964 relating to a belt-buckle structure of a nature related tothe present disclosure.

It is an object of the present invention to :provide a belt and bucklecombination which can be particularly used with a belt composed of aflat strip of material of high tensile strength such as tempered steel.

It is an object of the invention to provide a structure wherein it ispossible to fasten the one end of the belt in fixed relation to thebuckle without the necessity of riveting which tends to weaken the beltconstruction and which also adds to the cost.

In the present structure, it is an object to provide a fastening meanswherein the belt strip may be snubbed around a portion of thebelt-buckle in a manner to obtain a securing action which is enhanced bythe locking pressure of the belt itself.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a belt and buckleconstruction which is simple in design and inexpensive in itsconstruction and assembly.

Other objects and features of the invention relating to details ofconstruction and operation will be apparent in the following descriptionand claim.

Drawings accompany the disclosure and the various views thereof may bebriefly described as:

FIGURE 1, a sectional view taken on line 11 of FIGURE 2 of a beltconstruction illustrating the invention.

FIGURE 2, a plan view of a belt-buckle construction.

FIGURE 3, a sectional view of a modified construction.

In FIGURE 1, a buckle body is shown having :a face or top plate 20 and arear or back plate 22. These plates, connected by side walls 24 and 26,form a passage with angled walls having an included angle ofapproximately 14. Operating in this passage between these plates arewedge blocks 28 and 30, each of which has a serrated surface 32 forengaging the surfaces of a belt strip 34 intended to be adjustablypositioned within the buckle body. The wedge plates are joined forsimultaneuos action by a slide pin 36, and a small coiled spring 38suitably recessed in the side edges of the blocks serves to separatethem when they are moved toward the wide end of the passage.

One end of the belt portion 34 may be anchored at the base of a seatand, in this case, another encircling portion 40 serves as thecompleting portion of the belt; in some instances the portions 34 and 40may be opposite ends of a single strip. The belt is preferably formedwith a fiat strip of material 42 which has a high tensile strength suchas spring steel. The strip 40 which may be covered by a sleeve orcoating throughout its length has one end engaged with the buckle by asnubbed portion which is r composed of section 44 passing over the innersurface of the rear plate 22, a bight portion 46 snubbed around the edgeof the rear plate 22, a return portion which lies flat against the outersurface of the rear plate 22, and a snap or engaging portion 50 which,in the embodiment in FIGURE 1, snaps around the other edge of the workplate 22.

It will be seen that the section 44 is interposed between the block 28and the rear plate 22. A locking handle 52 pivoted on a pin 54 passingthrough the face plate 20 has legs 56 which engage a recess 58 in thewedge plate 30 to facilitate the operation of the locking mechanism. Aheel portion 60 moves on the legs to and fro to cam the wedge platestightly into the recess and also to cam them out to a release position.The wedge plates are held in place by the heel portions 60 to preventdislodgment from the housing.

With the parts as shown in FIGURE 1, it will be seen that the wedgeplates are cammed into locking position in the wedge recess so thatthere is a considerable surface pressure on both sides of the belt strip34 and there is also a similar amount of surface pressure on the beltsection 44 which is pressed against the inner surface of the rear plate22. Thus, once the belt is engaged, the greater the locking force, thegreater the pressure to hold the section 44 in place and any pullingaction on the belt strip 34 merely tends to increase the holdingpressure on all parts.

A modification of the structure is shown in FIGURE 3 wherein a rearplate co-opertates with a face plate 72 on the belt construction, thehandle operation being the same. In this embodiment, a single wedgeblock 74 is biased by a small spring 76 operating in an edge recess 78.The fastening portion of a belt end 80 has a section 82 overlying theinner face of rear plate 70, a bight portion 84 and a return portion 86terminating in a locking lip 88. The other end of a belt strip 90 passesthrough the belt buckle body over the surface of the belt section 82 andunderlying the serrated surface of the wedge block 74. Thus, in thelocking position shown in FIGURE 3, the wedge block 74 exerts pressureover a fairly large amount of the surface of belt strip 90 and alsoexerts this pressure against the belt section 82 of the fasteningportion 80 so that both the fixed and the adjustable ends are subject tothe locking pressure when the parts are in looking position.

In the manufacture of the device, the core 42 of the belt can be formedinto the shape in which it will ultimately assume in its final positionand the material can be heat treated in this shape. It is then a simplematter to open up the loop in the end of the belt strip 40, for example,to insert the rear plate 22 and snap the lip 50 into position. Aspreviously stated, the main portion of the belt can be an envelope ofplastic over the steel core strip, this envelope being either slipped onor coated on the core. A plastic core can also be used providing it hassufficient tensile strength to serve the purpose for which the belt isto be used.

I claim:

A locking buckle for a relatively wide, flat, thin strap formed of metalhaving a high tensile strength to serve a a passenger vehicle safetybelt comprising:

(a) a rigid housing having a wedge-shaped chamber with aligned openingsformed by front and rear walls rigidly connected by side walls disposed.at an angle to each other, said front wall having an opening extendingto said chamber,

(b) a pair of wedges in said chamber slidable therein from a locking toan unlocking position and means joining said wedges for simultaneoussliding movement,

(0) spring means in said housing biasing said wedges to an unlockingposition,

((1) positive locking means comprising a lever pivoted on said housingfor shifting said wedges in said chamher, said lever having an armprojecting through said opening in the front wall of said housing andinto a cam recess in one Wedge adjacent said opening to hold said Wedgescaptive in said housing and to forcibly shift said Wedges to a lockingor an unlocking position,

(e) one end of said strap passing through said housing in apredetermined fixed position between said Wedges and a rear Wall of saidhousing, said end being formed around the outer surface of said rearwall to engage the two end edges of said rear Wall 4. and another end ofa strap passing through said housing above said first end adapted to beclamped by said wedges in said housing which simultaneously exert astabilizing pressure on said first end.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 980,700 1/1911Swafford 24-25 2,511,579 6/1950 George 24-171 FOREIGN PATENTS 137,07212/ 1919 Great Britain.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner. 15 G. WEIDENFELD, Assistant Examiner.

